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11 This is the copie of the letter that they sent vnto king Artaxerxes: Thy seruauntes, and the men that are nowe beyond the water, and Cheeneth. 12 Be it knowen vnto the king that the Iewes which came vp from thee to vs, are come vnto Hierusalem, a citie seditious and froward, and builde the same, and set vp the walles thereof, and lay the foundations. 13 Be it knowen now vnto the king, that if this citie be builded, and the walles made vp againe, then shal not they geue toule, tribute, and custome, & the kinges profite shall incurre damage. 14 And now in the meane season we haue destroyed the temple, and woulde no longer see the kinges dishonour, therefore sent we out also and certified the king, 15 That it may be sought in the booke of the cronicles of thy progenitours, and so shalt thou finde in the booke of the cronicles, and perceaue that this citie is seditious and noysome vnto the kinges and landes, and that they cause other also among them to rebell of olde: and for the same cause was this citie destroyed. 16 Therfore do we certifie the king, that if this citie be builded againe, and the walles thereof made vp, thou shalt hereafter haue no portion beyond the water. 17 Then sent the king an aunswere vnto Rehum the recorder and Samsai the scribe, and to the other of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and vnto the other that were beyond the water in Selam and Cheeth. Ezra 4:11-17, Bishops' Bible of 1568. Public domain.
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